Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1887-09-10
rhe Iron Ores in the olarGsvIlls District

The writer Of this article has had
some experience in smelling iron ore
into pig-metal, but this experience
was acquired under the old anti-be.-
lum system, and has been with the
ores of Rtna Furnace, in Hickman
county, Tenn, now owned by a syn
dicate of which Col. Il. w. Cole is
President, and with those on the
Tennessee river, at Clark Furnace
now, together with La Grange iron
Works, the property of the Warner
Iron Company. In both of these
furnaces he was once an active part
ner, was member of the firm by
which old Clark Furnace was built,
and assisted in building IL. The ores
of the first mention d locality have
the reputation of being the best in
Tennessee. The iron manufactured
from the Tennessee river ores espec-
tally, however, is scarcely, if at all,
inferior to that Of 1Itna Furnace,
Warner, Furnace, or from the very fine
ores around the old town of Vernon,
in Hickman county, between Char
lotte and Centervillc, from which the
iron manufactured by old Ashland
Furnace, in that vicinity used to be
made. This ore is perhaps n shade
better than that of Etna Furnace.
The writer, accompanied by Mr.. w.
c. Bratton, about the year 1852,
(when Mr.. b. desired to invest in
iron property, and was looking for
suitable location for Il furnace at the
time,) saw Mr.. L, lix j. Studdart,
the proprietor of Ashland Furnace,
take thin piece Of pig metal made
at that furnace, and hammer it into
a horseshoe, clear indication of the
very superior quality of the ore. So
far as the writer has been able to
judge, the ores of the Tennessee river
district are of the same quality (both
being brown hematite) with those of
the Duck river district, anda specimen
lot of the pig-iron manufactured at
Clark Furnace by Bradley, Broaddus
& Co., (of which firm the writer was
a partner) was subjected to all of the
usual tests by Shreeve, Steel Il Co.,
and Worthington g. Co., both Cincin-
natl iron manufacturers, and proved
to be of such superior quality that
Clark Furnace was unable to supply
the iron as fast as these firms wanted
it. They would have taken readily,
at liberal prices, q much larger guam
tity than that Furnace was able to
supply, If they could have COTTON it.
The ore now used by La Grange Fur
mace, and the ore then used by
Brownsport Furnace, are of same
quality with the ore recently pro-
nounced so superior by Col. Hays,
the President of the Paducah Coal
and Iron Company. The writer has
visited these deposits and knows
whereof he speaks, He has also seen
and examined the ores in Houston,
Stewart, Montgomery and Dickson
counties, and is of the opinion that
ifthese ores were examined by experts
they would be found to be still of the
same character. The ere at old Su-
gar Creek Furnace, in Montgomery
county, was formerly melted into
sugar kettles by Messrs. Stewart and
Dick, and every iron man knows
that it takes very superior kind of
iron to make good sugar kettle. The
same may be said of the ores belong
ing to Cumberland Iron Works, stu
ated at the mouth Of North and
South Cross creeks, in Stewart county
on Cumberland river, about seven
miles above Dover. And the writer
is still strongly of opinion that there
is a large deposit of this same kind
of ore on the property owned by Mr..
Bryce Stewart, of this city, located
on the head of Hurricane creek and
Immediately on the l.. u N. Rail-
road in Houston county. In regard
to the ore bank owned by Capt. F.
p. Gracey, formerly belonging to
Mr.. Robert Steele's old Yellow
Creek Furnace, we are not left to
speculation or conjecture, for the
quality of the iron made by that
Furnace demonstrated, beyond cavil
or dispute, the superior quality of
the ore from Which it was made.
Crossing Cumberland river to Rough
and Ready and old Blooming Grove
Furnaces the Ia ter formerly
owned and operated by Jones